A LEADER'S PRIMER FOR OUT OF TOUCH LEADERS

A Hornet regular writes...

There could be six contenders in the Leadership race.

With the "electorate" being a mere 48 Tory councillors it's easy for the contenders to "bribe" other councillors with promises of high office and privilege. 

With nine Cabinet positions and one Mayor, plus deputy, plus all the Committee Chairmen positions, candidates in a six horse race can bribe/bully(Moylan) their way to get the necessary seven votes to win. Nudge, nudge; wink wink...

But let's get real..... 

People 'in the know' understand that the "here and now" is:

(i) we are in recession and it will continue for maybe five more years. National and local spending needs to be cut to the bone and the elderly are most vulnerable

(ii) K&C has become a notorious national centre of profligate spending:Holland Park School, Holland Park Opera, Exhibition Road, Chelsea Care, The Wedge, Arts sponsorship etc, all fuelled by £170 million in reserves from annual over taxation.

(iii) K&C suffers from one of the most resident hostile Planning Departments in the land. eg basement excavations, property developments for absentee foreign 'investors'

(iv) the Tri Borough was ill conceived and it is starting to fail. And it will get worse and with H&F going Labour it will be impossible to manage.

A worthy Leader would promise something along the lines of:

• no more profligate spending. 
• Immediate termination of the "Resident Artist" 
• No more subsidy for Holland Park Opera 
• A voluntary cut of the Leaders SRA from £65k to £30k. 
• A pledge to focus spending on "essentials". 
• No more "forced marriage seminars" (Cllr Fielding-Mellen) 
• No more seminars about 'birdsong in the park' (Cllr Paget-Brown). 
• 80% of the £170 million reserve ring fenced for 5 yrs to provide services to 70 plus year old residents 

 and then some more....

• The Kensington Society, the Chelsea Society, and all Resident Association Chairmen  to be invited to make submissions about the desired Planning Policy for the Borough followed by a workshop 
• Massive reform of the planning culture in Hornton Street to follow.   
• a K&C Chief Executive(Holgate?) to be appointed as soon as Derek Myers quits and tri Borough activities to be restricted to joint purchasing eg dustbin collection

and finally and vitally...no leader to stand for more than two terms.